Film and television director best known for his films Blue Velvet (1986) and Eraserhead (1977 ), and for the television series Twin Peaks (1990–91). Lynch's background in art (he studied at the Corcoran School of Art in Washington and the Boston Museum of Fine Arts) greatly influences his film and television work, sometimes with negative results. Other film credits include The Elephant Man (1980), Dune (1984), the critically acclaimed and uncharacteristically lyrical The Straight Story (1999) and Mulholland Drive (2001). He was married to Isabella Rossellini.